Secrets are Hard to Keep
by Special Agent Baker
Summary: A Russian arms dealer kills a Naval officer for fear of being caught and the team have to put him behind bars. But it's kinda hard when your liaison has been taken by said Russian.
1. Chapter 1

Secrets Are Hard To Keep NCIS LA Fanfic

A/N: I just had to wright another! Writing Dara stories, with a bit of action is fun for me. I hope you enjoy this one, and I would recommend that you read my other two stories, "New Beginnings" and "A Budding Love" first, in order for this one to make sense.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 1**

As Lara walked through the doors of the OSP unit in Los Angeles, California, she was greeted by a smirking Deeks.

"Good morning." She politely said to her partner/secret boyfriend.

"I can't believe it," Deeks said with an ever present grin. "I actually arrived before you."

Lara simply rolled her eyes; she couldn't believe that Deeks was obsessing over something so… childish.

"Really, not even a 'Good morning' or 'How was your day so far'?" Lara asked as she put her hands on her hips.

Deeks suddenly leaned in a little closer and said, "Well, when I left this morning, you were busy eating breakfast. I still had to get home, get dressed, _**and**_ have breakfast."

"You know women take longer than men to get dressed." Lara said as she kissed Deeks lightly on the cheek, and headed over to the bullpen.

"Morning everybody." Lara greeted as she walked to her desk, which happened to be next to Callen's desk, and across from Deeks'.

"Morning." Everybody answered as they signed forms.

"Ugh, more paperwork? Even in my days as a detective I haven't seen so much." Lara said as she sat down at her desk.

"Yeah well, you better get used it." Callen said as he put some papers in the _**Done**_ pile.

Deeks sat down at his desk and joined the others in the battle of the paperwork, occasionally glancing at his girlfriend.

Hetty came in, a little surprised to see that everyone was actually working, and not goofing around, as they so often did.

"I see you are all making some progress with your paperwork." Hetty said as she came to stand in the middle of the room.

"Slowly, but surely." Deeks said as he leaned back in his seat.

"Good to hear Mr Deeks." Hetty said as she headed back to her office.

"I just hope we don't have another case." Deeks said. "I'm really getting tired of filling out forms."

At that moment, Eric peered over the side of the balcony, and gave one of his prize-winning, attention-getting whistles.

"Let's go!" He yelled.

"Ugh, apparently I spoke too soon." Deeks said, which got him a glare that said, "Ya think?" from the other two guys on the team.

The team headed upstairs for their third mission in a row.

When everyone arrived upstairs, they saw Hetty, Eric, and Nell, all waiting patiently.

"What is it this time Eric? Don't we get at least one day off?" Callen asked as he leaned against the table at the centre of the room.

"Sorry Callen, but crime never takes a vacation, even for a day." Eric said as he went over to the big screen.

"Alright, our victim is a Navy Commander named Nicholas Haze, he has a wife, Hannah, and a daughter, Emily. His body was found this morning in his garage. According to the neighbours he was working on his car but no one heard anything." Eric said as he enlarged a picture of Mr Haze's body next to his car.

"OK Kensi, you and I will go to the crime scene. Sam, Deeks, and Lara, you guys go talk to Mrs Haze." Callen said.

"Roger that." Deeks said as he put his hands in his pockets.

They all headed downstairs, grabbed a few things, and went to fulfil their duties.


	2. Chapter 2

**Secrets Are Hard To Keep**

A/N: Here is chapter 2 if you want another chapter, please leave a review for me!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 2**

Callen and Kensi had arrived at Mr Haze's beach house.

The garage was full to the brim with forensics people, and yellow tape.

"Looks like we missed out on the decorating." Callen said as he and Kensi walked over to the garage.

"Yeah, they really went crazy here." Kensi said.

"Ah, you must be the people from NCIS." Said a tall blonde woman.

"Yeah, I'm Agent Callen, and this is Agent Blye." Callen said as he shook the woman's hand.

"Hi, I'm Detective Yamada." The woman said as she shook their hands.

"Who found the body?" Callen asked.

"Oh, a bunch of teens who thought they heard something, and decided to take a look." Detective Yamada said.

"Looks like they got a bit of a surprise." Callen said, looking over the beautiful beach.

"They sure did." Kensi said.

"Why don't we take a look inside?" Callen said as he led Kensi into the garage.

"Looks like his head was caved in with a blunt object." Kensi said as she crouched next to the body.

"He didn't get very far on his car either." Callen said as he put on a rubber glove and lifted the hood of the car.

"It's a beautiful car tough." Kensi said as she stood up next to Callen.

"Yeah." Callen agreed.

The two stood in silence for a while, until Callen's phone started ringing. "What do you have for me Eric?" Callen asked into the phone.

"Uh, actually it's Nell." The short woman said to Callen.

"Oh, hey Nell, what do you have for me?" Callen asked again.

"Well, apparently Commander Haze made a phone call before he died." Nell said.

"Yeah, who did he call?" Callen asked with a confused look on his face.

"He made a call to some guy called Boris Romanov. I did a background check on the guy, and your not gonna like what I found." Nell said with a very unsure look.

"What is it Nell?" Callen asked with a very serious expression.

"Well, he's one of the higher ups in the arms dealing business, and he's supplying some of the local gangs with military grade weapons." Nell read from some files on the screen in front of her.

"Do we know what connection Commander Haze had with Mr Romanov?" Callen asked.

"No, and I can't find out what they talked about on the phone either." Nell said, a little disappointed that she didn't have any other news for Callen.

"Well, thanks anyway Nell, let me know if you find anything else." Callen said.

"Bye Callen." Nell said.

"Bye Nell." Callen replied.

Callen put his phone in his pocket, and turned to Kensi who had just finished talking to one of the forensics guys.

"Hey, any news?" Kensi asked.

"Apparently Commander Haze had a conversation with a high up arms dealer named Boris Romanov." Callen said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But why would Commander Haze be talking to an arms dealer?" Kensi asked, a little surprised at what Callen had just said.

"I don't know, all I know is that we need to get the Commander's cell from evidence." Callen said, heading towards some guys who were packing and labelling evidence bags.

"Hey, I wonder how The Incredible Hulk is doing with the two kids." Callen asked, which made Kensi giggle.


	3. Chapter 3

**Secrets Are Hard To Keep**

A/N: Thank you so much to CALLEN37 for your great support. Here's chapter 3, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 3**

Deeks, Lara, and Sam had just arrived at the commander's house.

They piled out of the car, and headed to the front door.

"Seriously though, what sport did you play in high school?" Deeks asked Lara.

He had already asked Sam what sport he did, and now he was pushing Lara to answer the question.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Lara asked as she rang the doorbell.

"It just interests me that's all." Deeks said with a goofy grin.

"Guys, can we please focus." Sam said to the two as he saw Mrs Haze answer the door.

"Hi, may I help you?" She asked.

"Hi ma'am, I'm Agent Sam Hannah, this is Agent Lara Baker, and our liaison officer from LAPD, Marty Deeks." Sam said as he shook Mrs Haze's hand.

"Oh, of course. I suppose you want to talk to me about my husband." The woman said.

She had obviously been crying, because there were red rims around her eyes.

"Yes ma'am." Sam replied.

"Come on in." Mrs Haze said.

As soon as they entered the house, they were met by the voice of a little girl.

"Mommy, mommy!" The girl shouted as she ran to her mother, and grabbed onto one of her legs.

"Emily, mommy told you I was just opening the door." Mrs Haze said as she lifted the four year old onto her hip.

"Sorry," Hannah apologised, "she's still a little shaken."

She led them to the dining room, and showed the trio to their seats.

"Sit wherever you like," Hannah said, "I'll just give Emily something to drink."

There were only two chairs, so Deeks, being the gentleman, gave Lara his seat, and Sam took the other one.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Hannah said as she turned to the group, "would any of you like something to drink?"

She placed the toddler onto the counter top.

"No thank you ma'am." Sam said. "Ma'am, maybe it would be best if your daughter didn't hear this."

"Oh, of course." Hannah said as she put Emily on the floor. "Sweetie, why don't you go play with your toys?" Hannah said as she crouched in front of the toddler.

The little girl whispered something into her mother's ear, and Hannah asked rather embarrassedly, "Um, Agent Baker, was it, my daughter wants to know if you would take a look at her room?"

Lara blushed, and was about to answer when Deeks answered for her.

"She'd love to." He said.

So Lara got off of the chair, and went over to the toddler.

"Show me where your room is sweetie." Is what she said as she took the toddler's hand.

So off the two went, and Deeks sat in Lara's seat.

"Ma'am, do you know that your husband made a phone call before he was killed?" Sam asked Hannah.

"No, I didn't." Hannah said with a confused expression.

"Apparently he phoned a man by the name of Boris Romanov." Deeks began, "The thing is, Mr Romanov is a very well-known arms dealer that supplies most of the gangs around LA with military weapons."

It took a few seconds for Hannah to put two and two together, and when she did she said, "You don't think my husband was the one selling this man the military weapons, do you?" she asked with a look of worry.

"We don't know ma'am." Sam replied.

"Did your husband maybe mention anything about work, or seem at all distant lately?" Deeks asked.

"No." Hannah answered. "He did say he did say that he was busy with something that would get us some more money though." She said as she looked to Sam and Deeks with concern.

"Did he mention what he was working on?" Deeks asked.

"No, he said it was a secret, but that it would get us some more money, so I trusted him." Hannah said as she twirled her wedding ring on her finger.

"Ok, well, that should be all ma'am." Sam said as he stood from his seat.

"OK." Mrs Haze replied. "Emily, sweetie, time to go." She called down the hall.

The toddler came into the room, followed by Lara. The little girl said to Lara, "You have pretty hair."

"Thank you." Lara replied, blushing a little.

"You're welcome." Emily said as she hugged Lara's knees.

"Come on Em, let's show our guests to the door." Hannah said as she took her daughter's hand.

Sam was in front of the pack, and saw something glinting in the mirror.

"Everybody get down!" Sam shouted as he ran to Emily and Mrs Haze, to push them to the floor.

As soon as Sam shouted, there was a squeal of tires, and Deeks pushed Lara to the ground.

The next two minutes was very noisy, and no one really knew what to do except stay on the ground, because there were two vans outside shooting at the house with machine guns.

The sound of ricocheting bullets and shattering glass rang through the entire house, and for the people on the ground, it felt like it would never end.

But finally, the sound of tires squealing down the road came to the ears of the people inside the house.

Sam had Mrs Haze and Emily under each arm, and Deeks was on top of Lara, shielding her from the glass.

"Hey, you OK?" Deeks asked Lara, a little breathlessly.

"Fine thanks." Lara replied.

Their lips were inches apart, and the only thing that stopped them from closing the distance was the sound of Sam's voice, bringing them back to reality.

"Is everyone OK?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." Deeks replied, still staring into Lara's eyes.

"Ugh, speak for yourself, I'm being squashed!" Lara said, a little uncomfortable with her and Deeks' current position.

"Sorry," Deeks said, "I thought you liked the smell of my cologne." Luckily Sam didn't hear the last part.

Lara snorted at Deeks' remark.

Deeks slowly got off of Lara, and offered her his hand, which she gladly took.

Sam helped Hannah and Emily up, and said to the two, "I think we should take the two of you to our safe house instead."

"I'll call Callen, and tell him what happened." Lara said as she took her phone out of her back pocket.

"And I'll call LAPD and tell them to come and process this place." Deeks said, as he too took out his phone.

"Agent, can I just grab a few of Emily's things before we go?" Hannah asked as she cradled the crying toddler in her arms.

"Of course ma'am." Sam replied.

Lara came over to Sam, and said, "Callen said he'll see us at the boat house, and that he's glad we're safe."

"Yeah, and LAPD said that they're sending a patrol car out now to check it out." Deeks said as he put his phone in his pocket.

"Where are Mrs Haze and Emily?" Lara asked, a little concerned, more for Emily than Mrs Haze.

"Mrs Haze is just getting some things for Emily." Sam said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh, are they OK?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, Emily is just a little shaken, but other than that they're both fine." Sam replied.

"Good." Lara and Deeks both said at the same time.

At that moment Mrs Haze came back with Emily in her arms and a backpack on her back.

"Are you ready to go Mrs Haze?" Sam asked the woman.

"Yes, I think so." Hannah replied.

"Alright, Deeks, Lara, you two will sit in the back with Emily, and Mrs Haze will sit in front with me." Sam said as he took his keys from his pocket.

So the group left the rookie from LAPD to process the scene, and went to the safe house.


	4. Chapter 4

Secrets Are Hard To Keep

A/N: Here's chapter 4. Please let me know what you think of this story by clicking on the little review button at the bottom of the page.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 4**

Deeks, Sam, Lara, Hannah and Emily had just arrived at the boat house, and were waiting for Callen and Kensi to arrive.

Emily was sitting on the sofa with her mom reading a book, Sam was doing something on his phone, and Deeks and Lara were having a very important conversation.

"I don't care, what if Sam had heard you earlier? Huh?" Lara whispered to Deeks.

"OK, I'm sorry." Deeks said, "But that's what I do to lighten up the mood."

"Fine, I forgive you." Lara said, a little above a whisper.

"Good." Deeks said, "Now I can get back to a very important question, which I recall you never answered."

Deeks was now grinning widely, "What sport did you play in high school?"

"Ugh, Deeks, haven't you dropped that yet?" Lara asked, she was now fed up with his question.

"Please just tell me, I really wanna know." Deeks said as he cupped her face in his hands.

"Fine," Lara began as she placed her hands on his wrists, "I played tennis in high school."

"Really?" Deeks asked, a little surprised a t Lara's answer. "Hm, were you like Serena Williams, or Maria Sharapova?"

"See, that's why I didn't tell you, because I thought you'd have some snide remark." Lara said as she took Deeks' hands off of her face.

"I'm kidding, I'm just kidding." Deeks said. "I'm glad you told me. It means you trust me." Deeks intertwined their fingers.

Lara leaned up, and kissed Deeks on the cheek, and said, "Good, because I trust you too."

Deeks gave one of his signature goofy grins, and the two walked over to Sam, but standing close enough so that he couldn't see their intertwined fingers.

Sam looked up from his phone just as Callen and Kensi walked through the door.

"I leave you alone with Deeks and Lara for an hour, and you guys almost get killed." Callen said with one of his signature smirks.

"Hey, it's not my fault these two are magnets for danger." Sam said with a grin.

"Hey!" Deeks and Lara replied in unison.

"Well, as long as everybody's OK." Callen said.

Callen fished a plastic bag out of his back pocket, and put it on the table in the centre of the room.

"I got the commander's cell from evidence, just in case." Callen said.

"Do we know for sure that Mr Romanov is the one that killed the commander?" Sam asked, as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"We don't know that for sure." Callen said as he sat down across from his buddy.

"Why don't we try contacting him from the commander's phone?" Deeks asked with a confused look.

"Because, what if Mr Romanov is the one that killed the commander, then he'll know that we have the commander's phone." Lara said as she let go of Deeks' hand, and sat down on the chair in front of her.

"But what if Romanov wasn't the guy, then he would probably contact the commander, right?" Kensi said.

"Probably." Callen replied.

At that moment the commander's phone received a text message.

Everyone at the table looked at the phone as if had just answered all of their questions.

Callen took the phone out of the plastic bag, and opened the text message.

"It says, 'Today, Murphy Container Yard, 2pm, light load only'." Callen read off of the screen.

"But who are we going to send if the commander is… preoccupied?" Deeks asked after Callen had put the phone on the table.

Everyone at the table suddenly had the same idea, all except for Deeks and Lara.

Sam, Callen, and Kensi all looked at Deeks in unison.

"He looks a lot like the commander doesn't he?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, if we just dress him up nicely, give him a ring; maybe convince Romanov that he grew his hair out." Callen said in agreement.

Realisation suddenly hit Deeks and Lara like a tonne of bricks.

"No." They both said in unison.

Callen looked a little confused for a few seconds, but said to the two, "We need to catch this guy somehow, and Deeks, you're the closest thing we've got."

"It's way too dangerous." Lara said, concern clear in her tone.

"We'll have his back at all times." Callen said, convinced that his plan would work.

"But what if he realises that Deeks isn't the commander, then we'll have a really big problem on our hands." Lara said, she wasn't liking this arrangement one bit.

"Do you have a better idea?" Callen asked, a little more harshly than he meant to.

Lara opened her mouth to speak, but only managed to say, "No."

"Exactly, so we'll give it a shot." Callen said as he picked up the commander's phone.

Callen typed, and retyped until he was satisfied.

"How's this, 'Today, 2pm sharp, I'll bring the stuff'." He asked the rest of his team.

"Sounds good G." Sam said.

"OK, so we'll set up everything, and we'll see Romanov at 2pm." Callen said as he put the commander's phone on the table.

Callen, Sam, and Kensi got up to head back to Ops to inform Hetty of the plan.

"You guys coming?" Callen asked Lara and Deeks.

"We'll catch up." Deeks said as he sat down in the seat next to Lara.

"OK, see you at Ops." Callen replied as he walked out of the door.

Lara was busy twirling the purity ring that adorned her left finger, when Deeks took her right hand in is left one.

"Hey, everything's gonna be fine." Deeks said, as he took Lara's chin in his right hand.

"I know, I'm just worried that's all." Was Lara's reply as she looked into Deeks' eyes.

"Don't be, OK." Deeks said to his girlfriend.

"Ok." Lara said just before Deeks captured her lips in a reassuring kiss.

The two stood, and made their way to the door, fingers still locked together.

"On the bright side, I'll get to see you in a tux." Lara said with a little giggle.

"So that's why you agreed." Was Deeks' reply as the two climbed into the car, and drove back to Ops.

Once everyone had arrived, all the arrangements were made to make sure that the plan was airtight, and that nothing would go wrong.

All the angles were covered, surveillance cameras were found, positions were confirmed, and finally, Deeks' wardrobe was organised.

Deeks was busy trying to put on his tie, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"You clean up nicely." Lara said as she came over to Deeks.

"Thank you." Deeks said, as he turned to face Lara.

"Do you want me to help you with that?" Lara asked, with a smirk.

"Please." Was Deeks' reply.

Lara took Deeks' tie in her hands, and began tying it for him.

"So, are you worried at all?" She asked.

"Kinda, but not really." Was Deeks' reply.

"Oh," was all that Lara said. "Everything is going to be fine. I'll have your back." Lara said as she pulled Deeks' coat straight.

"I know, I just don't want _**you **_to be worried." Deeks said as he cupped Lara's face in his hands.

"I'm not." Lara said as she put her hands over Deeks'.

"Good." Was the reply from Deeks before he leaned down, and pecked Lara lightly.

"Come on, we better get your gear." Deeks said as he took Lara's hand

"OK." Was Lara's reply.

So the two went over to the lockers, got Lara's gear, and went over to the rest of the team.

"Each one of you will have an ear wig, and Deeks will have a button cam." Hetty said as she handed each team member an ear wig.

"Take good care of this Mr Deeks." Hetty said as she put Deeks' button cam on his shirt.

"I will Hetty." Deeks replied as he stood up slowly, almost as if afraid that the button cam mentioned might fall off of his shirt at that very moment.

"I've also made sure that, if the need arises, you'll be able to disable your ear wig, and button cam." Hetty said as she gave Deeks the Commander's phone.

"Thanks Hetty." Deeks said as he put the phone in his back pocket.

"Are we all ready?" Callen asked, he was a little worried himself, but acting level headed as usual.

"Yup, I think so." Was Deeks' reply as he turned to Callen.

"Good, let's head out team." Callen said as he grabbed his gun, and put it in his holster.

So the team left in their various vehicles, all feeling the adrenaline slowly but surely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Secrets Are Hard To Keep **

A/N: This is chapter 5, please let me know what you think by leaving me a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 5**

The container yard was obviously empty, except for the odd worker, and container holder.

Lara and Callen had just arrived at their agreed position, and were waiting for Sam and Kensi to give the go ahead for Deeks to pull his car into the yard.

"Are you guys in position?" Callen asked Sam and Kensi through his ear piece.

"Yup, give Deeks the thumbs up." Kensi said to Callen.

"You're good to go Deeks." Callen said to Deeks, who was waiting in his car.

"OK, I'm going in." Deeks said as he drove his car through the two huge gates in front of him.

From their position, Lara and Callen could see Deeks' car pull into the yard, and they could see the container that Romanov was waiting in.

"Looks like Romanov has three guards with him, but we can't tell if there are any more." Callen said as he looked through his binoculars.

Deeks got out of his car, and said, more to himself than his team, "Show time."

Deeks walked up to the container, and said to one of the bodyguards that was standing in front of the container, "I'm here to see a Mr Romanov."

"He is not here." the man replied with a very broad Russian accent.

"Oh well, tell him that Commander Nicholas Haze stopped by." Deeks said as he turned on his heel, and started walking back to his car.

"Wait!" A man said from somewhere inside the container.

Deeks turned around, and saw none other than Romanov himself coming out of the shadows.

"Glad to see you could make it." Romanov said as he came over to Deeks.

"I keep my promises." Deeks said.

"Search him." Romanov said to one of his men in fluent Russian.

"Whoa, watch it." Deeks said as the man frisked him.

"He's clean." The man said to his boss after he had patted Deeks down thoroughly.

"Oh, come on man, don't you trust me after all our deals?" Deeks asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I take safety precautions with all my clients." Romanov said with hands in pockets.

"Fair enough." Came Deeks' reply.

"Did you bring the weapons?" Romanov asked.

"Yeah, they're in the trunk." Deeks said, motioning towards his car.

"Good." Romanov said with a somewhat predatory grin.

"How will the transaction be made?" Deeks asked, trying to act casual.

"I will send it to the agreed account in the Caymans." Romanov said as he checked something on his cell phone.

Deeks gave a nonchalant nod in agreement.

"But first, I'd like to see the weapons." Romanov said, as he came a little closer to Deeks.

"Of course." Deeks said as he unlocked the trunk of his car, flipping it open automatically.

Romanov gestured for his men to retrieve the weapons.

The two men returned with big cases filled with (empty) weapons.

"Open the cases!" Romanov ordered his men.

The men placed the cases on the tables, and opened them.

Inside, gleaming and well-polished, were three MG51s, and as soon as Romanov saw them, a huge grin spread across his face.

"Good." Romanov said as he picked up one of the weapons.

"So, are we good?" Deeks asked, a little anxiously.

"Yes, we are good." Romanov said as he put the gun back in its case.

"Good, so you can just make the transaction, and I'll be on my way." Deeks said.

"Of course." Romanov said as he summoned his men. "But before you go commander, let me ask you something." Romanov walked over to Deeks, and his men boxed Deeks in.

Lara, Callen, Sam, and Kensi were waiting with baited breath.

"How does a man, rise from the dead?" As soon as Romanov had finished his question, his men grabbed Deeks, and started tying him up.

Lara and Callen rushed over to the container, but before they could say or do anything, there was a sound like squealing tires, and a huge puff of smoke.

Two more men jumped out of the back of the black van, and pulled Deeks in with them.

Romanov and his men climbed into the Jeep behind the van, and the two cars sped off.

The two cars were gone before Callen and Lara could get into Callen's car.

The two looked at each other, astonished that Deeks had just been carried off by a group of crazy Russians.

Lara turned to Callen, and yelled, "You said that everything would be fine, and now look what's happened!"

Callen just stood speechless as Lara walked back to the car.

Everyone, including the three people in the Ops centre, who had witnessed the scene stood in silence, shocked that their friend had been taken right in front of their eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Secrets Are Hard To Keep

A/N: Here you go, chapter 6. Please let me know what you think of my story in a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

Chapter 6

Everyone was gathered in the bullpen, and was listening to Hetty as she gave them all an ear full.

"What the heck was that?" Hetty said as she paced up and down in the middle of the room.

Deeks had only just been taken scarcely thirty minutes earlier.

"This Op was supposed to be airtight." Hetty said. "I am very disappointed in all of you."

Everyone was listening to the rant intently, and waiting for it to stop.

"Now, standing here giving you all an ear full is not going to get Mr Deeks back." Hetty said as she paused in the centre of the room. "What will get him back is a plan."

The room was silent. No one had any ideas on how to get Deeks back.

"We could try sending someone in under cover." Eric said from where he was standing in the corner.

"Good idea Mr Beale." Hetty said as she turned to look at Eric. "I'll leave you all to make the arrangements." Hetty said as she went in the direction of her office.

"We're gonna need something that'll grab Romanov's attention." Sam broke the silence.

"Competition." Eric said as he came over to the group.

"Ooh, that could work." Kensi said as she thought about the idea.

"But who would Romanov's competition be?" Sam asked.

"The Russian Mafia." Callen said as he suddenly came back to earth.

"Exactly." Nell said. "Because Romanov is Russian, he would feel that the Mafia are his competition."

"One problem, who are we gonna send undercover?" Sam asked.

"I'll go." A familiar voice said, and everyone turned to the figure that hadn't said a word since Deeks was taken.

"What?" Callen asked a little astonished at Lara's answer.

"I said I'll go." Lara repeated.

"No." was Callen's reply to this option. "I'm going." With that, Callen rose from his seat, and headed towards Hetty's office.

Lara rose from her seat as well, and stopped Callen just before he reached Hetty's office.

"Why not?" Lara asked Callen as she put her hand on his shoulder.

Callen turned to Lara, and tried to control his voice as he said, "Because, it's too dangerous."

Lara decided that Callen was wrong, and said, "It'll be equally dangerous no matter who goes."

"No it won't." Callen said as he raised his voice slightly.

"Why not?" Lara asked again, more determined than ever to prove Callen wrong.

"Because…" Callen began, but trailed off.

"Because what?" Lara asked, "Because I'm a girl?" Lara was now furious.

Callen looked at Lara, as if searching her facial expressions for an answer.

"Yes," He finally answered, "but also because you're not as well trained as I am." He added.

"You and I both know that those aren't the only reasons Agent Callen." Lara said, hands on hips.

Callen and Lara stood in silence for a while, before Lara asked, "So, what are the other reasons?"

Callen took a while to answer this question, but he eventually replied, "Because, I've lost a lot of team members, but you're more like a little sister than a team member to me."

Lara stood speechless. She couldn't believe the words that had just come out of Callen's mouth.

"Besides," Callen began, breaking the silence, "you don't even speak Russian."

Lara suddenly came back to earth, and said, "I do."

"Prove it." Was Callen's simple reply.

"Very well Agent Callen." Lara said in fluent Russian.

"Not bad." Callen replied, also in Russian.

"So let me go undercover." Lara was still speaking in Russian, just to prove that she was fluent in the language.

"On one condition," Callen replied in Russian. "I go undercover with you."

Lara thought about this for a second, then replied in Russian, "Fine."

"Good." Callen said in English, "Let's go tell Hetty." And with that, he and Lara entered Hetty's office.

Hetty was sitting at her desk, giving someone a stern talking to through the phone.

When she saw the two agents standing in the doorway, she ended her conversation with a stern, "Good." and looked towards the two.

"May I help you?" Hetty asked.

"We've got a plan." Callen said, he was a little unsure of what Hetty would think of the plan.

"And what would that plan be?" Hetty asked as she took a sip of her freshly brewed tea.

"Lara and I are gonna go undercover as members of the Russian Mafia." Callen replied as he sat down, and motioned for Lara to do the same.

Hetty almost choked on her tea when she heard what Callen had said the plan would be.

Callen and Lara shared a brief glance while Hetty composed herself. "You are going to what?" The petite woman asked.

"You heard Hetty, Lara and I are gonna go undercover as Russian Mafia." Callen said, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so.

"Are you mad?" Hetty asked.

"Hetty, we need to get Romanov's attention, and we've all agreed that having competition is the best way to do so." Callen said as he tried to calm the small woman down.

"And how are you going to make Romanov aware of this 'competition'?" Hetty asked, she was not convinced that this plan was full proof.

"We haven't figured that out yet." Callen said, somewhat sheepishly.

"I see." Was all that Hetty said as she took another sip of tea.

"I think it's a good idea." It was Lara who broke the silence.

Hetty and Callen looked at her, as if prompting her to explain why she had such faith in this plan.

Lara looked at the two, and proceeded to do just that. "If we can convince Romanov that he doesn't need Deeks, and that we'll pay him in money and weaponry, we might even be able to arrest Romanov on the spot." Lara said.

Callen and Hetty shared a brief glance, and decided that Lara's explanation was a good one.

"Alright, if you need anything, let me know, and I'll let my source know." Hetty said as she signed some papers.

"Thank you Hetty." Came Lara's reply, with a somewhat relieved grin.

So Lara and Callen rose from their seats, and started heading back to the others, when Hetty called Callen back.

"Mr Callen," Hetty began, "take good care of her."

Callen gave Hetty a little nod, and headed over to his team.

"Eric, I'm gonna need you to see if you can get a hold of Romanov on his cell." Callen said as he entered the bullpen. "Nell, I'm gonna need two fake IDs in Russian." Callen said to the short lady.

The two tech geeks shared a brief glance, and then headed upstairs to attend to their duties.

"Kens, I need you to help Hetty with wardrobe." Callen said to Kensi. "Sam, I need you to come with Lara and me to pick out the right weapons from the weapons locker." Callen said as he led Lara with him towards the weapon room.

"On it G." Came Sam's reply as he followed behind his buddy with a smirk.

After about three hours of planning, Lara and Callen were ready to go out as Alexandra and Dmitry Vasiliev, famous siblings dealing in top secret military weapons.

"Alright, we have everything set; now all we need is to set up a deal with Romanov." Callen said to his team.

They were all standing around the table in the Ops centre. Everything was ready, they just needed to contact Romanov, and make a deal with him.

"Alright, you'll be on with Romanov in three, two, one." Eric said as he dialled Romanov's cell phone.

The phone rang three times before it was answered by Romanov himself.

"Privet, who is this?" Romanov asked into the phone.

"Is this Boris Romanov?" Callen asked, using his Russian accent to a tee.

"Who wants to know?" Romanov asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"Just a man who wants to make a deal that will be too good to resist." Callen said.

"Who are you, and what do you have to offer?" Romanov asked, clearly interested.

"I am Dmitry Vasiliev, and my sister and I would like to offer you a military rocket big enough to blow the empire state building into dust." Callen said, trying to sound convincing.

"And what do you want in return?" Romanov asked.

"What have you got?" Callen asked, hoping to get the answer he was looking for.

"I have money, an escape route over the border, and a prisoner." Romanov said, almost causing Callen to heave a sigh of relief at hearing that he was willing to offer Deeks up.

"How about a prisoner, my sister and I haven't had one of those in a while." Callen said, hoping that Romanov wouldn't change his mind.

There was a pause, and the occupants of the room waited with baited breath.

"Shtraf," (Fine) Romanov said as he broke the silence.

"Good, where shall we meet?" Callen asked, pleased that Romanov had agreed to give Deeks up.

"I have a warehouse in downtown LA; I will send you the details. We meet at 7pm sharp." Romanov said.

"Agreed." Callen said as Eric typed some things on his tablet. "See you at 7pm." And with that, the phone was hung up.

As soon as the call ended, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get everything ready for our meeting at 7pm with Mr Romanov Eric," Callen began as he turned to leave the room. "Lara and I have to get ready."

And with that, Callen and Lara left the room. The plan had been set into motion.


	7. Chapter 7

Secrets Are Hard To Keep

A/N: Here is the next chapter, thank you for the continuous support CALLEN37. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

Chapter 7

Lara and Callen came out of Hetty's office, and they looked… seriously dangerous.

Lara was wearing a pair of black denims with a white blouse, and black waist coat.

Callen was wearing a black suit with a sky blue shirt, and brand new black loafers.

"Wow." Was Kensi's remark when she saw the two.

"You two really could pass for brother and sister." Sam said as he put on his Kevlar vest.

Eric came up to the group with Nell following behind.

"Ok, here are your button cams and ear pieces." Eric said as he handed the ear wigs to Callen.

"And, you'll be able to turn these off." Nell said as she put Lara's button cam in place.

"Just in case." Eric added.

Lara and Callen had their cameras and ear pieces in place, and were about to head toward the parking lot, when Hetty said, "Mr Callen, Ms Baker, a word."

The two shared a brief glance, and followed behind the petite woman.

She led them to her office, and turned to them as she spoke.

"There is a backup team standing by to swoop in on your command Mr Callen." Hetty said.

"Thank you Hetty." Was Callen's reply.

"And Mr Callen, Ms Baker, be careful, and bring Mr Deeks back in one piece." Hetty said with a reassuring smile.

"We will Hetty." It was Lara who replied.

"Good luck, and speak clearly." Hetty said, which caused the two agents to smile.

"When speaking Russian, it is very easy to stumble over your words." Hetty said to the two in fluent Russian.

"We'll remember that Hetty." Callen replied in Russian.

"Go make me proud." Hetty said in English.

"I can guarantee we will Hetty." Lara said to the small woman in Russian.

"Good." Hetty replied with a smile. "You'd better get going."

And with that the two agents went to the parking lot, and drove to the warehouse.

Lara and Callen arrived at the warehouse, and were let in by one of the guards, after assuring him that they were Dmitry and Alexandra Vasiliev.

They parked the car, retrieved the weapons cases from the trunk, and started walking towards the entrance of the warehouse.

When they entered, they were met with the sight of Romanov sitting in front of a long table, and drinking a glass of red wine.

"Ah, privet Mr and Ms Vasiliev." Romanov said as he rose from his seat. "So nice to finally meet you in the flesh." Romanov walked over to the two, and shook their hands as he said this.

"I must add that your sister is very beautiful." Romanov whispered to Callen.

"Da, it is a good thing that she looks more like our mother." Callen replied, applying his Russian accent perfectly.

"Hm, a man with a sense of humour," Romanov said. "I like that."

"Please, come to my work table." Romanov said as he led the two towards the table he had been sitting at.

Lara and Callen followed Romanov, Lara carefully scanning the room.

"You can just put the weapons on the table." Romanov said with an inviting grin.

Lara and Callen carefully placed the two cases on the table.

Romanov went over to one of the cases, and opened it.

"Ah, beautiful." Romanov said with a sigh.

"It is the best we could get on such short notice." Lara said, sounding as if she were born and raised in Russia.

"Our shipment came in late, and when we received it, we realised that they had sent us the wrong rockets." Callen said as he stood next to Romanov.

"No matter," Romanov said as he closed the case again. "It is a good quality rocket."

"I'm glad you like it." Callen said, briefly glancing at Lara.

"Well Mr Romanov, we held up our end of the deal," Lara began as she turned to Romanov. "Now it's your turn."

Romanov was smirking as he said, "But of course."

Romanov motioned for his men to bring Deeks out, and said in Russian, "Bring him out."

Lara and Callen looked at each other, and held their breath momentarily.

They heard a commotion coming from the direction Romanov's men had left in, and both struggled not to smile as they saw Deeks come out with his hands tied behind his back.

"Watch it." Deeks said as he was brought to the centre of the room.

Once he was standing in front of Romanov, Deeks tried as hard as he could to stop himself from running up to the two agents, and embracing them.

Callen walked up to Deeks, and looked him up and down. He poked Deeks lightly in the stomach and said to Romanov, "He seems strong, and healthy."

Callen walked over to Lara, and whispered, "When I give the signal, you say the code word that will send the backup team in." Callen handed her a hand gun, unseen and added, "Give this to Deeks."

Lara gave a slight nod, and hid the gun up her sleeve.

Callen turned to Romanov, and said, "We'll take him."

Romanov's grin couldn't have been wider as he said, "Good, I'm glad you've decided to keep the deal as is."

"Let me just show you where all the attachments go and such." Callen said, distracting Romanov while Lara spoke to Deeks.

Lara walked up to Deeks, and untied his hands, making it as unnoticeable as possible as she passed Deeks the little hand gun, indicating for him to hide it in his sleeve.

"You guys came faster than I thought you would." Deeks whispered to Lara.

"It's what we do." Lara replied with a brief glance in Deeks' direction.

"Nice cover story by the way." Deeks whispered.

"It was Nell's idea." Lara whispered back, Callen was finishing up with Romanov, and heading their way as Lara whispered to Deeks, "Get ready."

Callen came to Deeks and Lara and asked, "Are we ready to go baby sister?"

Lara gave a small nod, and said, "Da, but I just have one thing to say to Mr Romanov."

Romanov turned to look at Lara, with hands in pockets as he asked, "And what would that be?"

Lara gave a quick smirk as she pulled her gun from her holster, and with Deeks and Callen following suit, she said with her normal accent, "You're under arrest for the murder of Commander Nicholas Haze."

"And a bunch of other crimes I'm sure you'll confess to in court." Callen added.

"It's a trap!" Romanov shouted to his men. "Get them!"

Lara, Callen, and Deeks ran for cover as Romanov's men started shooting at them with machine guns.

"What, no backup?" Deeks asked as he crouched in front of Lara.

Lara was about to say something, when the machine guns died down.

Callen, being the brave one, looked over the top of the box they were hiding behind, and saw an amazing site.

Callen pulled his head back down, and with a smirk, said to Deeks, "Why don't you take a look for yourself."

The two agents and liaison stood from where they were, and looked at the guards that were tied up on the floor.

Two men were busy cuffing Romanov, when Kensi and Sam burst into the warehouse.

"Are you guys OK?" Sam asked his buddy.

"Never better Sam." Was Callen's reply.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief back at the Ops centre, and Hetty said to the two tech junkies, "Get the champagne ready Ms Jones, we're going to be celebrating tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

**Secrets Are Hard To Keep**

**A/N: Here is the last chapter for this story. I should be done with the sequel and also the final installment in the 'Lara' series soon. Please let me know what you think and give me some ideas for a new NCIS:LA story in a review.**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the NCIS LA characters, or any of Shane Brennan's ideas.

**Chapter 8**

Once Romanov had been shown to a lovely prison cell, and all the weapons he was selling were transported to a safer place, the team began the drive back to NCIS.

When they had arrived, they were greeted by the happy cheers and congratulations of Nell, Eric, and Hetty.

"Looks like you kept your promise, and made me very proud." Hetty said as she embraced each team member.

"What do you expect Hetty, we're the best team in LA." Sam said from where he was leaning against his desk.

"That you are Mr Hannah, that you are." Hetty said.

"I got the champagne like you asked Hetty." Nell said as she presented two bottles to Hetty.

"Excellent Miss Jones." Hetty said as she took the bottles from the younger woman.

"Really Hetty, champagne?" Deeks asked.

"Yes Mr Deeks, to a job well done." Hetty said as she handed Deeks one of the bottles. "Why don't you do the honours?"

"Sure thing Hetty." Deeks said just before he popped the cork.

The team sat together enjoying the bubbly drink, bonding and enjoying each other's company.

Lara and Deeks had been sitting on her desk, talking to each other, when suddenly Callen asked, "So Romeo and Juliet, what are you whispering about?"

Lara suddenly turned a shade of red that would put Rudolph to shame, and Deeks followed suit.

Lara answered saying, "We were just discussing the case."

Callen and Sam shared a brief glance, knowing that that was not the real topic.

"Well, we better head out; we all deserve a little rest." Callen said, "Who knows what tomorrow will bring."

"I agree Mr Callen." Hetty said from her seat next to Nell.

"I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow." Callen said, motioning for Sam to follow him to the door.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Deeks asked a little confused.

"G and I are going to watch the game at the local bar." Sam said as he got up.

"Well, enjoy your game." Lara said.

"See you tomorrow." Callen said.

So the team shared their goodbyes, and enjoyed the rest of the evening. They all headed home with hopes that tomorrow would be a day off.

**The End!**

**Can't WAIT for the NEXT ONE!**


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